TAMPA - The nation has already seen more bank and mortgage company closings so far this year than it did in all of 2008.

There have been 164 mortgage-related firms that have either collapsed or were shut down, according to MortgageDaily.com, which tracks lender activity.

There were 124 such closings in 2008.

Of this year's failures, 98 have been federally insured institutions. That's 300 percent higher than the year before.

There were 165 mortgage-related closings in 2007, the highest level since MortgageDaily.com started tracking failed lenders in 1998. But that included only three banks.

Among this year's largest failures have been BankUnited, FSB; Guaranty Bank; and Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp.

"We are likely to see 2009's mortgage-related closings rise to more than 200 firms by the end of the year," said MortgageDaily.com Founder and Publisher Sam Garcia.

"Based on the rising number of regulatory orders being issued against financial institutions – the pace of bank failures is likely to get worse before improving."

Of the mortgage-related closings so far this year, there have been 98 banks, 53 non-banks, and 13 credit unions.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.